Airconditioning systems for vehicles are well known and are used, particularly in hot climates, for cooling the interior of a vehicle. It is also known to use an existing vehicle air conditioning system to cool articles of food and drink being carried in a vehicle.
There is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,510 a portable cooling chest operatively attachable to an automobile air conditioning system. The system comprises a portable cooling chest having a durable outer shell and an inner liner, each with bottom and side wall members and includes a unitary middle liner arranged in proximity to the bottom and side wall members of the outer shell to define an insulating compartment and in proximity to the bottom and side wall members of the inner liner to define a sealed cavity circumscribing the inner liner and containing eutectic fluid and immersed heat exchange coils. The heat exchange coils, coupled through a quick connect/disconnect means to the refrigerant of an automobile refrigeration system, circulate chilled refrigerant to chill and freeze the eutectic fluid within the sealed cavity and cool the interior space of the cooling chest.
A disadvantage of the cooling chest described in the above-mentioned U.S. patent is that it is bulky and invariably takes up space, for example, in the baggage compartment of a vehicle. In addition, access to the cooling chest is not possible from the interior of the vehicle. Furthermore, as articles placed in the cooling chest are cooled by virtue of the entire interior volume thereof being cooled. This way of cooling is relatively slow and inherently wasteful of energy.
There is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,405 a removably positioned refrigerated chest for motor vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,151 describes a car airconditioner with a freezer/refrigerator chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,151 describes a refrigeration system having two evaporators, one of which provides general air conditioning and the other being provided for cooling a cooling chamber. As in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,150, cooling apparatus employing a cooling chamber or the like is inherently slow and wasteful of energy.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,475 describes a combined air conditioner, beverage cooler and engine efficiency booster. The beverage cooler comprises a pair of beverage cooling coils associated with a gasoline engine with a fuel intake providing a source of reduced pressure.
A particular disadvantage to the airconditioner and beverage cooler of the above-referred to patent is that it is not useful with vehicles not having the described fuel intake which provides a source of reduced pressure, nor may it be appended, if so desired, to an existing, conventional vehicle airconditioner.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,553,976 is a container refrigerator which is adapted for attachment to the outside of a container. A refrigerating member is a tubular member, the configuration of which is either that of a C-shaped ring member that can be expanded and snapped onto a cylinder or that of a helically coiled tube that can be expanded and slid onto the container and released to be held in place. The refrigerating member holds a refrigerating medium which can be vented for reduction of temperature and the medium can be expanded between portions of the refrigerating member.
There is also described, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,099, a portable quick chilling device for cooling a beverage in a twelve ounce can from about 24 degrees Celsius to about 7 degrees Celsius in approximately four minutes. The evaporator of the device comprises a coil of tubing shaped to receive a generally cylindrical object to be chilled. There is also described apparatus for opening the coil so as to enable insertion of the beverage can thereinto and for closing the coil such that it tightly grips the can.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,289 there is described a vehicle airconditioner ventilator-mounted receptacle for storage and cooling of food, drink or the like. The cooling of the goods contained within the receptable is provided by circulation therewithin of the cool air flow from the ventilator. A disadvantage of this receptacle is that, as described in the examples, the temperature of goods cooled in the receptacle may be reduced in a relatively long time to a final temperature that is higher than the temperature of the cooled air circulated therearound.
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,613 is a storage and cooling receptacle for use with a domestic refrigerator.